


What you did to her

by AyePatch



Series: AyePatch's Bumbleby Fics [6]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, brief mention of suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyePatch/pseuds/AyePatch
Summary: Blake has just reunited with her team in Mistral, but not everybody seems happy to see her. Qrow decides there are some things she needs to know.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: AyePatch's Bumbleby Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107353
Comments: 10
Kudos: 104





	What you did to her

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place between Volume 5 and Volume 6

It had been a day.

In the past few hours, Blake Belladonna had led a hundreds strong Faunus militia across Anima to interrupt a White Fang attack on Haven Academy, faced down Adam Taurus and sent him running, reunited with her team and her partner, seen a terrifying illusion of a white-skinned woman, apparently named Salem— she still didn't know _who_ or _what_ Salem was, or why she was important— seen Yang come out of the basement of Haven Academy with a lamp that was supposedly magic (?), met a 14 year old boy who was allegedly _also_ Professor Ozpin, and been told that everything would be explained in the morning.

Yeah.

It had been a day.

Now, she was at the team house in Mistral for the first time. She'd been shown the bathroom and the room she'd be sharing with Yang, and little else. Everybody just really wanted to go to bed, and while she understood that, and frankly just wanted to go to bed too, she still couldn't help but feel like something of a burden. Especially when Yang had barely _looked_ at her, much less _talked_ to her, since they'd left Haven. As everyone was slowly starting to wander off to their rooms for the night, she heard a gravelly voice call her name.

"Blake," Qrow said, waving her over. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" 

Blake looked at Yang nervously, who just shrugged. "You don't need my permission," Yang said, a little coldly, before heading up the stairs. Blake turned back to face Qrow, arm nervously reaching across her chest.

"Not quite the welcome you were expecting?" Qrow asked as he led her to the table. Blake still didn't know him very well. They hadn't interacted much in the brief time he was at Beacon, and well, she'd been in Menagerie ever since then. All she really knew was the stories Ruby and Yang told her. Ruby practically idolized him, and Yang clearly looked up to him as well, although at least _she_ was willing to admit that he was a bad influence.

"I… don't really know what I was expecting," Blake admitted quietly. "Everyone seems so happy to see me. But Yang…"

"Was really, _really_ hurt by what you did," Qrow explained bluntly. "She's gonna need some time to heal. It might be a _lot_ of time." He sat down and glared at her. "And _I_ for one am not entirely convinced she should forgive you at all."

"So you brought me here to interrogate me.”

"That's about right," Qrow confirmed. “Yang’s dad isn’t here right now, so as her uncle it falls to me to grill any and all… _partners_ she’s got her eye on. That means you, kitten.”

Blake folded her arms. “First off, do _not_ call me that.”

Qrow raised his hands concedingly.

“Second off,” she felt her cheeks grow warm. “It’s… it’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?” Qrow asked rhetorically. “She likes you, and you _clearly_ like her. It may not be ‘official’ yet, but I’m not an idiot. Everyone in the damn building knows that’s where you two are headed.” He snorted. "Well, except _her_."

“And what are you going to do about it if you don’t like me?” Blake challenged, ears flattened to the side in warning.

Qrow chuckled. “I’m not gonna stop you if that’s what you’re asking.” He took a drink from his flask. “Yang’s a big girl, she can make her own mistakes.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed. “And you think I’m one of them.”

Another chuckle. “You’ve already broken her heart once, kiddo. You didn’t exactly make a good impression with that.” He leaned in over the table. “You may not have seen her after you skedaddled, but _I_ did, and what I didn’t see myself I got from her dad. And I think you need to know _exactly_ what you did to her.”

Blake sighed and sat down across the table. “Alright old man, hit me.”

Qrow laughed and leaned back in his seat. “Hey now, don’t call _me_ **_that_**. But I’ll give you one thing, kid. You’re feisty.”

Blake smirked. “She once told me she liked that.”

“I’ll bet she did.” Qrow snorted. “She was raving about you to anyone who’d listen before the first semester had even ended. Frankly, I’ve never seen her fall so hard. Tai and I had our suspicions about her, but you made her realize some really big things about herself.” He leaned over the table again and stared Blake down eye to eye. “After you ran off, she wouldn’t leave her bed for weeks. _Weeks_. She couldn’t even bring herself to tell her own little sister that she loved her. She’d go entire days without eating a bite. And the whole time, Tai was worried what she might do to herself once she got enough motivation to _do_ **_anything_**.” To clarify his point, Qrow made a gun with his fingers and pointed it at his head.

Blake’s eyes went wide and her ears pinned back, her heart cracking as Qrow continued.

“It was months before she left the house. Even longer before she actually started wearing that fancy arm of hers. She didn’t laugh for _four months_ , Blake. _Yang_. The brightest little ball of sunshine and rainbows I know, didn’t laugh _once_ for _four months_. Tai had to hide the books from her, for fuck’s sake, because just _looking_ at them could send her spiraling. You leaving hurt her a thousand times more than losing her damn arm _ever_ did. And then there were the nightmares. Every night, we’d check on her and find her tossing and turning, yelling things at ‘Adam.’ And crying out for _you_. And if we woke her up, she’d just give us a red-eyed death glare, roll over to the other side, and hope we didn't notice her crying. That was if she managed to cry herself to sleep in the first place. I don't know how to explain _just_ how much she _needed_ you here for her. If there's one thing Yang _hates_ more than anything else in the world, it's letting herself be vulnerable around people. You were an exception. The _only_ exception. You were the only person in all of _Remnant_ she trusted enough to lean on. And since you weren't here, she forced herself to go through _everything_ **_alone_**."

Blake's heart ached fiercely. She'd never dared to think that she could ever mean that much to Yang, but she _had_ , and she'd taken it all away from her. Ruined it. The guilt was like a pit of lead in her stomach.

"After she arrived here in Mistral, we realized pretty quickly not to bring you up in conversation. She told everybody that she hated you, that she didn’t miss you, that she didn’t care that you were gone. Load of bullshit, and she knew it. But for her, it hurt less than admitting how she _really_ felt, that even after everything, she still couldn't fall out of love with you no matter how hard she tried, and it was the only way she could get herself out of bed in the morning. You **_crushed_ ** her, kid. No other word for it. So you can forgive me if I don’t exactly have a high opinion of you right now.” He took another drink from his flask. “ _But,_ whether she’ll admit it or not, Yang’s still head over godsdamned heels for you, even after all that. So I’m willing to hear what you have to say.”

Blake took a deep breath, and locked eyes with Qrow. His eyes were almost the same shade of red that Yang’s turned when she was angry, and it was slightly unsettling, but she wouldn’t allow herself to show weakness. Even if she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

“You know, your ears give you all away,” Qrow said. “Bet you’re not too good at poker.”

Blake forced her voice to be steady. “You’re right. And if you think I’m scared, you’re right again. But I’m _not_ scared of you. I don’t need to justify my life to you. I don’t need to explain everything I’ve been through, but I have _reasons_ for what I did.”

“You sound just like her mother,” Qrow scoffed. “The bitchy one.”

“ _But,_ ” Blake continued, “that _doesn’t_ make what I did right.” This earned a raised eyebrow from Qrow, and Blake pressed on. “Running away from her was one of the worst mistakes of my life, and believe me, I’ve made _many_. And what you told me just now puts a lot in perspective, but I knew it was a mistake _long_ before tonight." She felt the tears start to spill over, felt herself starting to shake a little, but she pressed on. "But I can’t take back what I did. I can’t undo the pain that I caused her, can’t earn back all the months that we could have had together if I hadn’t stolen them from her. All I can do, is try to be the best partner I can be moving forward. And that starts with me being here for her, in any way I can, in any way she’ll let me. Because I’m _done_ running away! I’m not going to turn my back on my problems anymore, and I'm sure as _hell_ not going to turn my back on **_her_**!”

Qrow chuckled again, but rather than seeming disdainful, it sounded almost approving. “I can see why she likes you, kiddo. But let me make one thing clear.” He leaned forward and glared at her. “If you hurt my niece like that again, I’ll kick your pretty little ass.”

Blake snorted. “If I hurt her like that again, I’ll kick it _myself_.”

A tense silence hung over the room, before suddenly Qrow began laughing. Blake’s eyes narrowed in confusion before he finally spoke up. “You know what, Blake? I think you and I are gonna get along _just_ fine."

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see! Your feedback is a big part of what keeps me motivated!


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